Charges vs POGO workers moved to Pasig court – DOJ

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has transferred to a Pasig City court the qualified trafficking charges filed against foreign nationals who worked for a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac, according to the Department of Justice.

The DOJ said the SC granted the request of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to transfer the cases filed before the Capas Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 66 against Ma The Pong, Wang Weili, Lang Xu and other POGO workers.

Remulla, in his letter to the high tribunal, cited the need to “safeguard national interest and ensure fairness in the justice system,” considering that the cases are “high profile” and “exceed local boundaries, which affect national security.”

Remulla said the transfer aims to prevent possible undue influences.

“The SC found the request of Justice Secretary Remulla to be meritorious and granted the same by ordering the RTC Branch 66 of Capas, Tarlac to transfer all the files related to the cases to the Pasig City RTC,” the DOJ said in a statement on Saturday.

Remulla lauded the SC for its “unwavering commitment” to safeguarding the laws “to avoid the miscarriage of justice.”

The DOJ will prosecute these cases with “resolve and integrity,” he said.

The qualified human trafficking charges stemmed from the March 13 raid on Zun Yuan Technology, a POGO facility in Bamban where several foreign nationals were arrested.

The DOJ is set to file another complaint for qualified trafficking in persons against dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo and several others before the Capas RTC.

Aside from Guo, others to be charged are her business partners, including Huang Zhiyang, said to be the “boss of all bosses” of illegal POGOs.

Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty earlier said the request to transfer the first qualified trafficking case may also cover the complaint filed against Guo.